The Young Lady With the Most Powerful Specs Was Just Too Cute, so I Started Teasing Her—But Then She Tried to Trap Me With a Chain, so I Kept Running Away With All My Might - Chapter 3

Since My Wife Passed Away

Side: Duke Ryurius

Since my wife passed away, I had been failing as a father.

As a Duke, I still had plenty of ways to handle things.

Managing the mansion, governing the territory, controlling the knights, dealing with mountains of paperwork, and navigating the endless schemes of the nobility—I could manage all of that. No, I had managed it.

The problem was inside my own home.

More specifically, the problem was myself whenever I stood before that child.

Oldie Rock Ryurius.

The only daughter born to my wife and me.

A child who had been so clever, so strong, and so full of pride became as quiet as a snuffed-out candle the moment her mother died.

If I spoke to her, she would reply.

If food was brought to her, she would eat a tiny bit. If the maids dressed her, she would sit there and let them do as they pleased.

But that was all.

She didn’t laugh.

She didn’t get angry.

She didn’t cry.

She didn’t want for anything.

As if she had forgotten what emotions were, she never said she was in pain or suffering; she simply spent her days wanting nothing.

That was not the face of a living human being.

I didn’t want to think she was “broken.”

As a father, that was the one thing I refused to admit. But the reality that nothing I did could reach her heart tightened around my chest day after day.

Before I even had time to endure the grief of losing my wife, the fear of losing my daughter began to catch up to me.

I could remain calm as a Duke, but as a father, I was completely useless.

Every time I went to her room, I was reminded of my own powerlessness.

I didn’t know what to say.

I didn’t know what to do.

Even if I hugged her, there was no reaction.

No matter how many words I used, the only thing that came back was “Yes.”

I asked other young ladies to take her outside to see the flowers and the scenery, but that failed too.

Eventually, even going outside seemed to become painful for her.

I didn’t know what to do for her. I was a failure of a father.

♢

It had been nearly a year and a half since I lost my wife.

I was looking over documents in my office when the Head Butler spoke to me quietly.

“It’s rare for the Captain and the Head Butler to come before me together.”

As I spoke, the old butler bowed, and the Captain standing next to him gave a dry laugh while crossing his arms.

“We’ve come to tell you a bit of a strange story.”

“A strange story?”

“An interesting trainee knight has joined our ranks.”

I raised an eyebrow at the Captain’s words.

It was unusual for these two to specifically bring me news about a trainee knight.

A few talented ones join every year.

These two aren’t the type to bother a Duke for a vague reason like someone being “interesting.”

“He’s strangely bright for a trainee knight—quite an amusing fellow,” the Captain said.

“Bright?”

“Yes. He’s incredibly positive and oddly friendly. His sword skills are still lacking, but his footwork for running away is top-notch.”

“I can’t tell if you’re praising him or insulting him.”

“It’s about fifty-fifty.”

At that point, the Head Butler let a faint smile play on his lips.

“If it is him, he might do something out of the ordinary.”

“…Out of the ordinary? What are you talking about?”

“I am speaking of Lady Oldie.”

With those words, I realized what they were trying to say.

Oldie. I leaned back in my chair and remained silent for a while.

For my daughter’s sake, the maids had done their best. The ladies who were friends of my wife and the young ladies close to the family had all visited and kept reaching out for a year and a half.

The tutors, the doctors—everyone had done everything they possibly could.

But the result was always the same.

Her body was healthy. Her mind wasn’t broken. It was just that her emotions wouldn’t return.

So, what could a single trainee knight boy do now? While I thought that, I also knew that if these two were recommending him together, it wasn’t just a random whim.

“He’s a boy.”

Before I knew it, the words slipped out.

The Captain and the Head Butler looked at me silently.

“Even if he is the same age as my daughter, I feel some resistance to letting a boy near her.”

“That is only natural, sir.”

“But nothing has changed despite all the efforts we’ve made so far.”

As I spoke, the Head Butler nodded quietly.

“Your Grace. We are not suggesting this lightly.”

“I know.”

“However, what the young lady needs might not be polite consolation, but perhaps something that leaps past logic entirely.”

Something that leaps past logic? Was I so cornered that I would cling to something so vague? No, if there was something to cling to, I wanted to seize it.

My daughter might get better. I wanted to bet on that single possibility.

“His name?”

“Nil Metasura.”

“He comes from a family of country knights. His manners are still rough, but he is honest at heart. To put it poorly, he’s reckless. To put it nicely, he’s the kind of man who thinks of strange things.”

“Strange things, huh.”

I let out a small breath.

Doing the normal things hadn’t worked. In that case, I had no choice but to place my hopes on something abnormal.

“Bring him in.”

“Yes, sir.”

The boy who was shown into the office was visibly nervous from the moment he stepped through the door.

His back was stretched far too straight. His voice was a bit high. But seeing him desperately trying to suppress the urge to run away made him feel oddly human to me.

“Excuse me! Trainee knight, Nil Metasura, reporting for duty!”

“At ease. Don’t be so stiff.”

“Yes, sir! I’m not stiff at all!”

He was clearly stiff. I couldn’t help but let a smile touch my lips.

I see; there’s a reason those two called him interesting. He’s quite amusing to watch.

He didn’t shrink away too much in my presence, yet he wasn’t so relaxed that it was rude. He had a certain liveliness. As I watched him, I quietly told him the main point.

“There is something I want to ask of you.”

“Of me, sir?”

“Would you spend some time with my daughter?”

In that moment, I could tell exactly when the boy’s brain stopped working.

It made sense. I didn’t want to have to ask in this way either.

I glanced for a second at the portrait of my wife behind me and then returned my gaze to the boy.

“The maids and the young ladies close to her have been doing their best. But her heart remains unmoved.”

“…”

“I thought if it were a boy around her own age, things might be different.”

The boy was hesitating. I could tell by his face. He was likely afraid. She is a Duke’s daughter. Considering the difference in social standing, it was only natural.

He thought it over for a bit and then looked straight at me.

“…If I’m really okay, I’ll give it a try!”

“I see.”

“Just so you know, I’m not very good at saying fancy things.”

“That doesn’t matter. You don’t need to try and teach her anything. I just want you to talk to her.”

The boy nodded vigorously.

When I heard that answer, I couldn’t tell if I felt relief or a pathetic sense of hope.

The only thing I can say for sure is that when I sent him toward my daughter’s room, I felt a kind of nervous tension I hadn’t experienced in a long time.

Please. Anything will do. Just move that child’s heart, even if it’s only a little.

♢

I don’t think even an hour had passed.

Even with documents in front of me in my office, I couldn’t settle down, and my eyes kept drifting toward the door.

The Captain stood silently, and the Head Butler was quiet as usual, but they both likely sensed my inner turmoil. They didn’t say anything unnecessary.

It happened then.

A loud roar echoed through the mansion.

The sound of something shattering—crack!

Then, screams and the frantic pitter-patter of footsteps.

I stood up reflexively.

“What is happening!”

“Your Grace!”

A servant came rushing in from beyond the door. His face was pale, but he also looked like he had seen something unbelievable.

“T-The young lady…!”

“What about Oldie!”

“She’s bolted out of her room and is chasing Nil…!”

Before I could even process the meaning of those words, I was out in the hallway.

Everything after that still feels like a dream.

At the end of the long hallway. In the corridor where the evening sun was streaming in, a boy was sprinting with all his might.

Behind him, my daughter was chasing him, her black dress fluttering. Pitch-black chains were smashing walls, piercing the floors, and turning flower stands into dust as they stretched straight toward the boy.

Thinking about the damage to the mansion gave me a headache.

Normally, it was a scene that should be stopped immediately.

But none of that mattered.

Oldie was outside.

She was running on her own two feet. That child, who had been shut in her room and hadn’t reacted to anything for so long, was now looking only at a single boy and chasing him desperately.

Her face was still mostly expressionless. But her eyes were different.

Those were the eyes of someone living.

There was a heat there that could have been anger, frustration, or stubbornness.

Before I knew it, I was standing there, tears streaming down my face.

It was pathetic.

A Duke should not show tears in front of others.

Even so, I couldn’t stop them.

Ever since my wife died, I was the one who couldn’t save my daughter.

I was the one who could do nothing but stand in front of her room over and over again.

In the moment I saw that scene, I felt that my powerlessness had been redeemed, if only a little.

“Your Grace…”

Behind me, the Head Butler gasped.

“I am watching.”

I squeezed the words out.

“I am watching indeed.”

Nil Metasura.

I still don’t know exactly what that boy did.

But what is certain is that he dragged my daughter out of her room. Not through consolation or persuasion, but by moving her emotions themselves.

Gratitude filled my chest.

At the same time, I almost felt like laughing.

The mansion is being destroyed.

The flower stands, the walls—I’ll probably hold my head in my hands when I get the report on the repair costs later.

Even so, in this moment, none of that mattered.

My daughter is full of life.

Just that alone made everything else seem like a trivial matter.